WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released a proposed rule to reduce nicotine levels in cigarettes and certain other combusted tobacco products to minimally additive or nonaddictive levels. Research has long proven that nicotine creates and sustains addiction, and that the tobacco industry manipulates nicotine levels to promote addiction. Reducing nicotine to minimally addictive or nonaddictive levels would benefit public health by preventing new individuals who smoke, especially youth, from becoming addicted in the first place, and promoting cessation among people who currently use.
“Tobacco use is the number one cause of preventable cancer and a primary driver of cancer-related disparities in the U.S., being responsible for up to one-third of all cancer deaths,” said Lisa Lacasse, president of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN). “We cannot reduce suffering and death from cancer without addressing tobacco use. The tobacco industry has long engineered and manipulated its poisonous products to enhance addictiveness. The proposed rule, supported by strong, sound scientific research, would greatly accelerate progress in reducing tobacco-related disease and death."
The FDA estimates that this rule will prevent approximately 48 million youth and young adults from smoking regularly, prompt 12.9 million additional people to quit within one year of the rule’s implementation and save more than 4.3 million lives by the end of the century.
ACS CAN strongly supports the FDA finalizing the rule based on the strong scientific evidence to prevent the tobacco industry from further undermine the health of people living in the U.S. by peddling their poisonous and deadly products.
This important action should be a part of a comprehensive tobacco control strategy undertaken across the entire agency and paired with strong tobacco control efforts at the federal, state and local levels. Only a comprehensive approach to tobacco control can save lives, keep youth from starting a lifelong, deadly addiction, help those currently addicted to quit, and end the grip of the tobacco industry on our communities. ACS CAN looks forward to reviewing and submitting comments on the proposed rule in support of a comprehensive final rule.